In a rather unfortunate incident in Pennsylvania, a 45-year old Tyrone man named Christopher Carey Miller encountered serious brain damage after getting an MRI done in 2016 from a Tyrone hospital. However, a Blair County jury came to his rescue and awarded him $10.83 million.

According to the verdict that was ruled unanimously in the favor of Miller, the majority of the sum, that is, $6.21 million, will be reserved for his future medical treatments and recurrent supervisions that are to take place over the next 30 years. The remaining amount was delegated to make up for all the expenses that Miller himself paid for owing to his loss and suffering.

Understandably, the victim’s family finally had something to be hopeful about after all these years of agony. Brendan Lupetin, a Pittsburgh attorney representing Miller admitted that Chris’s father was so overwhelmed with the decision that he could hardly say anything or express himself. Later, Timothy Miller admitted that this verdict was like an end to his son’s continuing trauma and concerns.

This monetary award and verdict, which also happens to be one of the most historical ones in Blair county to date, was a closure to a case that started with Chris Miller visiting Tyrone hospital on the 4th of October, 2016, complaining of back pain. He wanted to get an MRI done and during the procedure, he developed an allergic reaction to gadolinium. For the unversed, gadolinium is s substance used while conducting an MRI to produce better contrast in the images. As a consequence of the allergic reaction, Miller underwent a severe cardiac arrest leading to brain damage that reduced his mental acuity to that of a child.

Michael Sosnowski did his best to sway the decision for the benefit of Tyrone Hospital. He claimed that after learning about Miller’s allergic reaction, the hospital personnel immediately decided to provide medical care that would improve his condition. When numerous witnesses were summoned to describe how the hospital responded to this crisis, all of them admitted that the latter neither had an alarm or emergency box in the MRI room to ease Miller’s difficulties.

The MRI technologist, supervising radiologist, and the emergency room medical director accepted that all of them had to step in the MRI room to activate the alarm and get additional assistance with the case. One thing that was clear from the witnesses’ testimony was that the MRI room did not have the required resources like the emergency drug epinephrine, which is an anti-allergy medication given to the patient when he suffers from an allergic reaction.

Although Sosnowski tried to convince the jury during his closing that the doctors did not want to administer a drug like epinephrine without a second opinion, Lupetin made it clear that the medical personnel only wasted precious time. The jury declared that the Tyrone hospital was responsible for 75% of the negligence in this event of medical malpractice and the rest 25% was assigned to Dr. Kelly Biggs, the supervising radiologist.

Citation

https://www.altoonamirror.com/news/local-news/2020/08/jury-awards-10-83m-in-tyrone-hospital-case/

A 6-year-old was left with permanent scars following a laser procedure, which was meant to get rid of a birthmark. The scars are circular open wounds that appear on the left side of her face from her face around her nose to her ear.

Consequently, the girl’s family is suing the University of Minnesota Physicians for allegedly inflicting the wounds on the girl.

The girl’s mother, Kasey Bernu of Minnesota, told the Star Tribune that she wants “accountability”. She wants Hook to take responsibility for disfiguring the girl’s face back in 2017 during a laser procedure.

According to the girl’s mother, the girl’s family is filing a lawsuit because they do not want to see the same thing happen to another child. Additionally, the girl’s mother says that she does not want to see another family suffer the way they have suffered with her daughter.

Hook and the University of Minnesota Physicians were named as defendants in the family’s lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday in Hennepin County District Court.

The family’s representative, attorney Jeff Storms, stated that Mrs. Bernu’s daughter still has visible scars two years after the alleged medical malpractice at the University of Minnesota Medical Center.

According to a statement given to New York Post, Jeff Storms said, “The girl still has very serious pocking and deep scarring on her face. And they’re going to be permanent.”

According to the family’s attorney …

According to the family’s attorney, the girl will have to wait before she can receive treatments to minimize or get rid of the scarring.  The attorney went further to state that the girl, who is a resident of Minnesota’s Crow Wing County, is seven or eight years old.

According to the lawsuit, the girl was born with a “port-wine stain”, which is a reddish birthmark. James Storms further stated that the girl’s family began treating the girl shortly after she was born back in the year 2011. According to Attorney James Storms, the girl was treated using a pulsed dye laser, which is certainly not the one that had been used to treat her in 2017. Additionally, storms stated that the Nd: YAG laser was recommended after 25 treatments, which had been done using the pulsed dye laser.

The lawsuit claims that Hook, who is pediatric dermatologist, did not disclose her inexperience as far as using such an “extremely powerful” laser was concerned.

Additionally, the lawsuit states that Hook offered the girl’s family “improper wound care” over the phone following her injuries in 2017. According to the lawsuit, Hook did not refer them for proper treatment.

On the other hand, University of Minnesota Physicians declined to comment stating that they never comment on pending litigations or matters touching on a patient’s privacy.

Hook could not be reached for comment. However, attorney Ryan Ellis, who was speaking on behalf of the family stated that, “We sympathize with this patient and her family”.

Through the lawsuit, the family wants to be compensated for damages. It wants $50,000 for various damages including emotional distress, suffering, pain, as well as loss of future earnings.

Citation

http://www.startribune.com/lawsuit-u-physician-s-misuse-of-laser-treatment-seriously-wounded-child-s-face/564945192/

Medical lawsuits are often a precarious process, as it can often come down to a singular incident that could have its own very particular and unique circumstances. However, it’s not always going to be quite so simple as this. For example, there is now a case ongoing against Porter Adventist Hospital, which is being sued by over 60 people.

This comes down to issues with their sterilization process. Apparently, the problem stems from how the company manages the cleaning and management of its equipment before and after treatment. One such example comes from the Wriston family, where Thomas Wriston, 78, had suffered a series of infections, including a cough and a fever, after going in for treatment.

Sadly, Thomas eventually died from the incident culminating in the mass lawsuit that is taking place. His death was a result of sepsis, pneumonia, anemia, kidney injuries, and respiratory failure.

The complaint is being brought forward by 20 spouses and 67 patients in total and comes after Porter had revealed significant issues with how surgical equipment was being cared for after treatment was administered.

Indeed, Bill Suarez, a patient, has had to go for seven knee surgeries due to the extent of his infection. He even suffered from necrotic tissue that developed after surgery in Porter back in 2017. With several forms of bacteria in his knee including a form often found in pregnant woman’s vaginal and rectal areas.

Several people, including Rebecca Brown, suffered from post-treatment conditions such as Sepsis after they have done for treatment. It has caused some people, including Brown, to avoid seeking hospital treatment until it is absolutely necessary, such is their loss of trust in the medical quality that is being given.

Speaking about it, Brown said: “I have severe PTSD with surgeries. I don’t even like getting my blood drawn anymore. I have no trust in any of the hospitals that are anywhere near us. And no amount of therapy can ever get that trust back,”

The case is likely to be one that goes on for some time, given the sheer number of people involved. The story, though, is still developing. We will bring you more about the incident and the progress of the case as it progresses.

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